Ero-Game: Power and Sword

When I got back to the inn, it was already 8 O’clock. Looking through the inn’s restaurant window, I saw the 4 of them enjoying ice cream and chatting  away. It seemed they hadn’t even noticed I’d been gone. I wanted to  punch someone, but instead, I trekked up the stairs and got in my  shower. My hair was a mess, my pubes were a mess… there was a lot of  mess.
I cleaned up, changed into new clothes, and went down for some much-needed breakfast.

“Master,  did you sleep in?” Garth asked when he saw me come into the restaurant. It seemed they hadn’t even noticed I was gone for the night. I glared.  “Ah, what?” He began to sweat. “I’ll go get you, your breakfast master.”  He said and ran to the counter.
There were no other seats available at the table, so I took his.
“What’s with the attitude?” Nikola asked, sipping lemonade out of a  straw. “Did you lose more money at the casino again?” Nobody would ever  guess I’d just netted 50 000 points. I didn’t bother to answer her.
“Don’t get so comfortable,” I said. “Coming Monday, we’ll be going in the Maglo.”
“Oh, are we going to dungeon again?” She was not excited by the concept of going back to work. When my face turned cold, she put down the drink and waved her hand. “No, no, I want to go back. I’m training every day.” And she flexed her arms and said, “I’m ready to punch some dungeon monsters.” She has gone up a level, so I couldn’t exactly complain. And  she got Garth up a level too.

Garth returned with my food. He found an empty chair and dragged it to our table while I ate. Swallowing the first chunk I’d just stuffed in my mouth, I asked, “What are you guys doing for the day?” It looked like they were all dressed to go somewhere, and I wanted to know where.
Nikola spoke for them, “The boys want to go to the theater. So I’m taking them.”
“They want to see a play?” I looked at the 3 boys. Without movies, the internet, VR, and television, the theater was a popular way of wasting  time.
“Then I want to go to the arena. See some fights. The arena here looks even bigger than the one in the Beast Queendom’s capital.”
“I don’t want to watch fights,” Dixon complained.
“You promised if I took you to a play, you’d come to the arena with us.” Nikola scowled.
“I know.” He sighed.

Garth studied my expression as I ate my food and said, “Master, is there  something we need to do? Maybe, something I need to do? If so, I can put  the theater aside. Your orders come before anything else.” I knew that look. He was hoping there was no work.
“There’s nothing. You can do whatever you want today.” I told him.
“Thank you, master.” He bowed to me.
Until Monday, there was nothing I needed from them. I, on the other  hand, had many things to do. Nothing Garth could help me with.
I ate, thinking up a schedule for everything I needed to do. I started  doing the math, there are 21 floors in Maglo, and now that I’m level 15, Garth: 12, and Nikola: 8, I wanted to finish it in a week. 1 day for every 3 floors. I’d be rushing, but I didn’t think it was impossible. Then there were the bracelets I wanted to finish before Monday.
After all that, I planned to go to Delaron and pass through Haneul village. So I also needed to prepare for Heneul village. Macme wasn’t  the best place to go with a beastwoman. The laws of the capital are one thing, and the people are another.
“We’ll be going to Maglo on Monday, and you’ll be coming too,” I told Garth. I planned for him to help out till we find one more girl.
“Yes, master.”
I finished my breakfast and went to my room.

***

I took  up the tongs. It was time to check on the progress of my bracelets. I picked one out of the tray and dropped it on a towel. After drying off  Mohini’s red charm-fluid, I looked over the bracelet. It looked good on  the outside. I took out a mechanical cutter and placed the bracelet in  the cutter. The cutter was only the size of my fist, and it could put a small cut on the bracelet. Just enough for me to pull it and take a look at the inner areas of the metal. I wanted to make sure the charm-fluid  had soaked through and made the steel Charm Steel. That it wasn’t just red on the outside. The first bracelet I took out turned out to be a  success. The inside was just as red as the outside.
I did this to all 7 bracelets and found two to be incomplete. I put those two back in the charm fluid and got to work on the others.

I  opened up one of my documents that I’d written when I was 10 years old  and flipped through it till I found what I was looking for. "There." I  stopped on the page with a drawing of a bracelet. I’d drawn a front  view, a side view, a back view, and a 3D view.
I picked up one of the bracelets. Put down the book beside the window so  I could see better. Then picked up the inscription needle and activated [energy manipulation]. The inscriptions need to be done using a manipulation type spell. It could be from any of the magic classes that allowed external mana manipulation. And [energy manipulation] from the energy class happens to be one of the best mana manipulation spells in the whole magic archetype.
I channeled my energy into the needle, and taking a deep breath, I held the bracelet with a steady hand. Then looking at the drawings in my  notebook, I began to copy the inscriptions onto the bracelet.

***

I had  to pull an all-nighter, but by morning the next day, I’d finished the first bracelet. It went better than I thought. With [look-a-look], I could see that it added 169 charm points to the wearer. This item was between Rare and World rank. If I had managed to make it 200 points, it would’ve been a World rank item.
“Well, that doesn’t matter,” I said to myself and put it on. Now, a boy would need a mental/charm resistance of over 169 points to think clearly around me. “I should test it out. But before that.”

I opened up my status window. I’ve been thinking of which spell to pick as I worked, and finally, I reached a decision. The options that appeared after I reached level 15 were: [outer-body, barrier, aura, teleportation, telekinesis, invisibility, erotic-energy, matter-destruction, calm-energy, yin-yang-energy, rafale, gamma beam].
Yin-yang-energy was something worth considering. It wasn’t very useful on its own. It slightly increased your energy intake and your body’s wellness. The real reason [yin-yang-energy] was important is because of its ability to counter mystic magicians. But it was too early to worry about rare magicians. Trying to run before you could walk is pointless.
The real reason it took me so long to decide on what to pick was because of teleportation and telekinesis. I wasn’t expecting to get teleportation as an option so early. Both of them were necessary for an Energy magician. I picked [telekinesis]. I sighed as the info was  updated on my status window. I really had no good reason for not picking [teleportation]. [telekinesis] would make my life a lot easier. But [teleportation] was just as good.

With  that done, I decided to get some sleep. My body felt cramped from staying up all night working on the bracelet. And I still had 6 more to  go.
I yawned and stretched as I climbed onto my bed. I pulled the bedsheet over my head and shut my eyes.